liminal lab
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An itinerant field-based laboratory spread across the Italian territory that documents, analyzes and proposes solutions for the sustainable development of small communities. These applied research programs bring together top universities and local stakeholders to tackle intractable problems faced by communities through a multi-disciplinary approach.
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On-the-ground experiences where students and researchers spend 3 to 8 weeks working in direct contact with the area of interest and its stakeholders. Liminal runs these programs through the support of academic institutions, as well as public and private sector entities.
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Tangible change is catalyzed by ambitious visions that are grounded in realistic constraints, include stakeholders and enjoy broad community consensus. Liminal Lab is the forum and incubator through which we plant this seed.
Liminal Lab envisions futures for territories based on a clear knowledge of the opportunities and challenges present in disinvested and depopulated areas
Year
Project Name
Location
Partners
SDG Focus Areas
Rebuilding the Edge
City/Country Conceptions
2022
2022
Monti Prenestini
Lazio
Ferrovia dei Parchi
Abruzzo & Molise
Dwelling in the Sicilian Countryside Anew
2021
Palazzolo Acreide
Sicily
Liminal Lab Project Catalog
Click project names to access details, reports and photo-diaries of individual initiatives
Rebuilding the Edge
LiminalLab’s 2022 Pilot Project in Abruzzo
A Partnership with Fondazione F.S. Italiane, MIT-Italy Program, MIT Urban Risk Lab and Digital Structure Research Group
June 9th – July 15th
Research Along the Rail
Rebuilding the Edge is the result of a collaboration between Liminal, Fondazione Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, MIT Italy , the MIT UrbanRisk Lab, and the Digital Structures Group. The program allowed a multi-disciplinary group of MIT students to join the members of Liminal in the region of Abruzzo, where they developed design visions for territories along the Sulmona–Carpinone rail line.
In the last seven years, Fondazione FS has rehabilitated service in this formerly decommissioned rail line that crosses small communities in Abruzzo and Molise, most of which have long suffered the effects of disinvestment and depopulation. Students will take these infrastructural efforts as a point of departure to think about mobility challenges in the region; opportunities for ecotourism in natural reserves; adaptive reuse strategies for underpopulated towns; land use plans for agricultural districts spoiled by failed industrial zones; and migrant integration models in rural areas.
Participants in this iteration of LiminalLab lived in Pettorano sul Gizio, a small town in Abruzzo, and used the train station at Roccaraso as a popup co-working space. They met with local stakeholders and authorities, as well as documented site conditions in order to develop design proposals that are based on a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges ahead of local communities along the rail line.
Interested in partnering on the next iterations of LiminalLab? Let’s talk.
Each iteration of LiminalLab is born out of a unique set of partnerships between stakeholders of local, national and international relevance. Together, we set the foundations for the kind of collaboration necessary to turn challenging situations into solid opportunities.